North Tonawanda, NY
How exposed is North Tonawanda to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, North Tonawanda lands at the 4th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 15,135 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, North Tonawanda's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 4th percentile nationally.
Where North Tonawanda's buildings actually sit
Most of North Tonawanda's buildings (73.2% of 15,135) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 15,135 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
North Tonawanda against the rest of the country
North Tonawanda scores 4th nationally and 4th within New York — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North Tonawanda ranks 30,204 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 978 by building count (1 is largest). Within New York alone, it ranks 1,243 of 1,289 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New York on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
North Tonawanda's low wildfire rating (4th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With 73.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, North Tonawanda gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where North Tonawanda's figures come from
North Tonawanda's 4th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what North Tonawanda's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.